You wont believe what I found in my closet this Friday. I can't even remember why I went in there, but I came out p***ed. Seems that my water heater has been leaking for who knows how long. Completely soaked the bottom of my closet. Nothing overly important got ruined, only a box of about 3 years worth of The Horse magazine ($24/year). Luckily my Renaissance magazines where safe.

The worst port is the mold. I hate mold. To kill it, I had to spray the floor with bleach water wich, of course, bleached the carpet. Just my luck. On top of that, I think I'm coming down with my fall cold and my favorite 'graphic novel' ;-) publisher is no more. -Sigh- My luck should get better, right?

Because of all this fun, I haven't been able to write and probably won't until the middle of next week. I neet to get that carpet up and the walls scrubed. I just hope it hasn't gotten into the walls or I'll have to move.

Found this on another author's blog and just HAD to repost it! Read Me! A very interesting article from USA Today about the romance genera. Oh, my! To think, the news is actually talking about Romance novels in a favorable light! Even if they do use the term ' bodice-ripper' at least once (my eyebrow always raises at this term). I know, I know, it is a little old, but hey, it's a very favorable article.

Also found this site of Author blogs: AuthorBlogs.com. Author blogs of all types. Check them out! And those authors out there who may be reading this and have not listed your site, do so! What a wonderful way to get out there.

Which leads me onto 'A Dire Entanglement'. Changed main characters after a suggestion from a friend. Cecilia seamed a little... mellow for our dear captain, so I've switched her position with that of her sister (though Sophia is still our resident horsewoman and unladylike enthusiast). Cecilia will be in the second book (keep fingers crossed!). I shouldn't get my self dug too deep, or the whole thing will fall apart. I belive I'm going target Harlequin Historicals with this one, them or Avon or Ivy. We'll see how long the story grows.

Came up with the basis for another series, though. I'll definitely target Harlequin H. with theses. All three regencies (maybe). I'd go further into their descriptions, but I'll probably change allot in the planning process.

I want to get all the ideas out of my head before November. I plan on diving into NaNoWriMo with a blank slate. The last thing I need right now is getting attached to characters and planing their whole life before I even start. Besides, NaNoWriMo is suppose to be a spontaneous thing. 50,000 is allot to aim for in just one month.

Well, it's quite late here. I've writen more on this darn blog than on my story. And the week is almost over!

Well, I haven't posted for a while, have I? Unfortunately life has kept me busy. I wouldn't be posting now save for the fact that I pulled a muscle balling yarn last night and It hurts to do much of anything. Pathetic, isn't it? And on my birthday.

Well, on the other things. I received my score for the RomanticJunkies.com contest (contestjunkies.com). I didn't finale, but I wasn't expecting to. My score was 7.5/10. Not bad. It was much better than I expected, thought I only received 3 'reviews'. Thank you everyone who checked it out and voted honestly. I really do appreciate it.

I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do today. The family went bowling and miniture golfing this weekend so we got all our excitement out of our systems. It was fun, though.

Well, I better got back to writing. Only one and a half months left untill NaNoWriMo!

Yay, school starts August 18th! While the brothers and sister are at school, I can write. 9-noon, no interruptions. And, boy, will I need the peace.

November is National Writer's Month. 50,000 words in 30 days. To prepare, I'm adding 425 words to my monthly total. That means in August, my goal is 425. September will be 850; October 1275; November, 1700. If I fallow this consistently, I will have my Historical finished by November, and my LUNA almost finished in November.

Also, since I have been slaging, I will only be working on one MS at a time. Yes, I know the muse leaves me on occasion, but in those moments of mental insanity I'll be working on my shorts.

Now, have you noticed the banners across the top? I hope so, I made each and everyone of them. I've added them to the blogg because I thought It would be a nice promotion for all those wonderful authors.

Now, one last thing before I go. My chapter is up at ContestJunkies.com I can't tell you which is mine, to be fair, but I'm sure you can find it. It is a historical :D

Oh, my. I can't believe it's been so long since I've last updated! I should be beaten. Bad Amber.

So, what have I been dong? I can't really remember; the past month has been very hectic. I've been writing, plotting, sketching characters. Even came up with a very intriguing new series. I've entered a chapter of ADE in the ContestJunkies.com contest. It has not run yet, but I'm so excited. I know I'm not at the point to win yet, but I'm hopping I'll receive a few 'reviews'.

Well, today is my brother's birthday and we're off for an early dinner.

Well, its Monday again. I hope all of you had a fantastic weekend and a wonderful father's day. It's nice and sunny here in northern norther California, having rained last week. That means it's getting hotter. Yuck. From 61 F to 98F in the span of a week. Double Yuck.

Oh, well. Never mind the weather, I have my mochas and the swamp cooler, I'll be fine.

As you know, it's updating time, so if you really want to know what I've acomplished for this week, read on!

I made a map for my fantasy, to keep places and directions straight. It's wonderful how helpful maps are (plus I love making them! Have for years). I've made the map a little larger than I first planed, the other 4 stories demanding to have their own locations on the map. That's fine. The story structure will grow because of this, and I believe will also become more enjoyable.

I've also edited my first chapter to my Historical and believe it may be ready to enter into the Romance Junkies contest! I'm going to enter it this week, but I'll give my self a few more days to polish it up.

Didn't do squat on the short, though. It's a bummer, really, because it's so small (it's goal it much closer and smaller than my novel's),

I also received my share of the entries for the Golden Gateway contest. I'm judging 10 of the paranormal/fantasies. Hum... who wouldn't have guessed that? There going to keep me pretty busy, as I need to turn them in by early August.

I've also completed several more wonderful book banners. I'm thinking of starting a newsletter and including them in it. That would be a nice touch.

Well, I better get back to writing. It is a new week.Happy Writing to you all!Amber

Ok. Summer's here, if not officially, and work has begun in earnest. I've completed several wonderful book banners (oh, all the wonderful stories to read next month!) and am enjoying myself!

Unfortunately, the caused my writing to slip a little, as well as my posting. I missed a couple of Mondays (again) and have nothing to report -sigh- I have been sketching out a couple of synopsis thanks to the help of the wonderful Deborah Hale. Seeing the synopsis for Wizards Ward helped so much. Now all I need to do is jump on and into the story.

I've been reading Kingmaker's Sword by Ann Marston (again) and the need for more romantic conflict is lighting a fire under my @$$. The story is wonderful, but she leaves out a lot of romantic tension when I'm expecting it. Being a romantic, I feel the need to put my own story to virtual paper, romantic tension, dragons, magic and all.

Now, I'm going to make my self an ice mocha, a bagel and turkey sandwich, then sit down and start typing. My goal is a short 2.5 months way, so I better get to work!

This week, and the weeks to fallow, I’ve decided to do things a little bit differently. I’ve decided to post more regularly; weekly in fact, with updates on all my stories. I think it will help keep me on track this summer.

Also, along the side bar (I also finished two other web sets. Yay! With that done with, I’ll have more time to work on paying sets and writing. That’s always nice. I’ve also started working on my equine design page, which is turning out great. That and my stud directory (a site where people can list their breading stallions) are on the top of my to-do lust. Well, writing, too.

Speaking of writing, I should do some, shouldn’t I? But what to choose. Should I work on furthering the voyage of several home-hungry unicorns? Help a young hero save the day and slay the dragon? See what trouble my sea fairing heroine has managed to get herself into? Or, perhaps, heighten the sexual tension that is brewing between the newly married Anthony and Kathren Salford. Many choices, but all good ones.

Well, I've been writing fairly consistent. At least 200 words/day. Not as good as I'd like, but better than nothing. Of course, life has stepped in again.

My filly is 2 and 1/2 years old, now, and seriously needs to begin her training. That means moving her down here. Unfortunately, the job I was trying for didn't want me and I'm back to the hunting scene. Worse, my car is on the frits so I need to stick with something in town. Ha! Lets just say I have better luck with my web design than finding an in-town job. That's ok, everything in strides. I've lowered some prices, created some new business cards, and have submitted to search engines. Now all I can do it wait.

But that's not why you are reading this, is it? I didn't think so; so on to the writing!

My historical decided to spit something back at me. The character I added to the plot to give the main characters... friction, has decided he doesn'tlike that roll. Well, fine! I decided to throw him into the second half of the story; concerned about one sister, in love with a close friend, and accused of sniffing at the main heroin's skirts! If he wasn't so noble, he'd probably have a few less bruises. But that's ok, the 'friend' need something to yell at him about. I still haven't figured out exactly why the villain is doing what he is, well, doing. -sigh- I wish he would just tell me.

The Fantasy is doing ok, too. I've come up with ideas for 4 more stories after this one, with the possibility of a 5th. What's great is that the ideas are flowing like water! My note book is full of plot summaries, character sketches, and notes. And the first story is moving nicely, too. I now know why the hero is what he is, how the heroine got to be in her position, and how they meet. I also know who the villain is, though I don't know everything about him as of yet. He's quite mean.

Right now the sun is warming up the orange blossoms on the tree out side my window, and the wind -cool yet warm- is bringing it into my room. It's very pleasant and thought inspiring; time to write!

Well, my idea is flowing nicely (I just love when that happens). I also got my domain: AmberJennell.com! Yay! Now I can be professional like. LOL If you haven't noticed, I'm extremely happy it was still available. I don't think I've ever heard of a book published by an Amber Jennell, so... Of course, I don't have it set up with my writing page, only my web design page. But that's ok, The Gilded Pen (my writing page) will be up sooner or latter. And with a contest, too. I'm planning on giving away a couple of Harlequin books as a grand opening prize. Sounds good, hu?

Now that I've bragged a little (about my new domain, my site, and my forum) I'm off to write. I've dedicated 3 hours to writing, and it's almost time to start! Besides, my character is having fun and that's always nice.

So much for my writer's competition. For the month of March, my muse had fled and I failed to write a single word towards my 50k goal. -Sigh- I guess that happens. There where things I could have done; forced my self to write, rewrote/revised sections of my story, or jumped into something new, but I didn't feel like it. Such a scary thought, that. I did not feel like writing. Just typing the words makes me shudder. All things considered, I have been out of sorts. I've been spending the month job hunting, and since I don't have a car I've only been applying to in-town positions, which limits my options quite a bit. I've also been working on my web page. Created some new web sets and such, as well as applying for my domain name.

Since it is a new month - ok, the second week of a new month - I've decided to jumpstart my writing. For three hours a day (no excuses) I will be writing. Writing, writing, and nothing but writing. If I am lucky, this will give me that little boost I need to get down to business. Besides, it's not like I have nothing to write about. The story to my LUNA is still workable, and I have even come up with a prequel short story. Now all I need to do is decide which aspect I want to use. Perhaps I'll use them both and see which one turns out the best. You never know, I may decide to turn one of them in to the sequel (always a nice possibility).

As another excuse to get my writing back on track, I've been picking up books and reading them (something I hadn't not done last month - shame on me). Since I haven't been in the mood for anything specific, I've been reading everything. Just this morning I finished Shari Anton's "Knave of Hearts". Well, there's a spark! Oh, drat, but in the direction of Medieval Historicals, not fantasy. Of course, I just received my copy of Sarah Zettel's "For Camelot's Honor". That should push me in the write direction.

Happy writing,Amber Jennell

P.S. (yes, I am adding a post script to my blogg entry)If anybody is interested in a web set/ or re-design of a current web site, feel free to visit my site: http://amberjennell.tripod.com. I am offering a 10% discount to all my loyal blogg readers. Yes, that means you!! Don't you feel special?

Well, I know it's been a while. Life, it would seem, does not stop for anybody. After some gentle prodding from friends, I have decided to post again, and let you know how the writing its going.

For the past two months, I've been working on a Regency. It was moving nicely until i finished chapter 3 and thought "Hey! I need to add this person!" The person is a perfect addition to the story, his presence will cause the hero to fume a little, and the heroine to stall in professing her love. Ah, a little friction, a little conflict.

Also, I've started to write out the outline for my LUNA fantasy. The idea is moving nicely; adding concepts and situations. I'm even working on the character sketch; getting to know my hero, heroine, sub-hero and sub-heroine, as well as the ... ahem... villein!

I'm competing in a writer's competition next month. I've pledged to write 50k words. Youch! Since I've only been writing 400 words a day, jumping up to 1500 a day is going to be a feat. Keep you fingers crossed for me!

Well, in case you are wondering exactly what this blog is about, I will tell you. This blog is a bases for my New Year's Resolution of completing a female focus fantasy novel for submission to LUNA books.

I hope you will all enjoy the notes I post in here as well as the mini stories I may come up with.